Machine for severing and shaping metal plates



y 1949- J. H. BUCKNAM ETAL 2,477,041

MACHINE TOR SEVERING AND SHAPING METAL PLATES Filed Jan. 9, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS jeumsme m L/ ATTORNL y 1949- J. H. BUCKNAM ETAL 2,477,041

MACHINE FOR SEVERING AND SHAPING METAL PLATES Filed Jan. 9, 1945 s Sheets-Shet 2 g llllllliiii lilllllmft 5.

INVENTORS JAMES H.'BUCKNAM JOHN H. ROUNTREE ATTORN EY July 26, 1949. J. H. BUCKNAM ETAL 7 2,477,041

- MACHINE FOR SEVERING AND SHAPING METAL PLATES Filed Jan. 9, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIII'I71 g 44 47 4/ i 45 1/5 v I g INVENTORS 79 JAMES H. BUCKNAM 40 JOHN H.ROUNTREE ATTORN EY Patented July 26, 1949 MACHINE FOR SEVERING AND SHAPING METAL PLATES James H. Bucknam, Cranford, and John H. Rountree, Plainiield, N. J., assignors to The Linde Air Products Company, a corporation of Ohio Application January 9, 1945, Serial No. 572,064

(Cl- 266-Z3) 6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to machines for severing and shaping metal plates, and more particularly to a machine for propelling one or more blowpipes horizontally in predetermined paths so as to cut or both cut and bevel metal plates according to desired shapes and edge contours.

Shape-cutting machines or reproducing machines for moving a blowpipe in a horizontal plane in any desired direction Within limits have been constructed on the principles that no resistance against movement occurs. between the blowpipe and the workpiece and, as a result, the shape-cutting machines customarily used are of light construction which is satisfactory for small workpieces. If large pieces of metal, such as ship plates, are to be cut, a machine having greater cutting capacity is required, but if such a machine were constructed according to the principles of the customary shape-cutting machines, it would be impossible to maintain the cutting accuracy which is required. The handling of large plates is diiliult and it is therefore desirable to perform as many of the cutting and trimming operations as possible without handling the plate between such operations.

For oxy-fuel gas or oxy-acetylene cutting of large plates such as ship plates to size, for forming desired edge contours on such plates, and for beveling the edges of such plates to prepare them for subsequent welding, there is provided according to this invention, a mechanism which is known as a "flame planer." Such a flame planer installation includes one or more types of cutting mechanisms capable of operation simultaneously on different portions of the plate to be cut to size and shape. The entire flame planer and the sub-assemblies included are of heavy duty construction and so designed as to be capable of making precision cuts even after long continued use.

The flame planer, according to the present invention, consists of at least one bridge member that extends transversely across the workpiece and is supported at each end on carriages or trucks which run on longitudinal rails at each side of the workpiece. The rails are accurately leveled and maintained straight and parallel and the workpiece is horizontally supported on a cutting bed comprising either stationary supports or a roller conveyor disposed between the rails.

The flame planer includes one or more sub-as-' semblies or cutting units which may be all mounted on one bridge member or some units may be mounted on one bridge member and others on other bridge members. The cutting units are of 2 diflerent type so as to be capable of trimming and beveling the longitudinal edges, of making shape cuts such as fairing cuts on ship plates, and of beveling the cut edges.

For longitudinal cuts, preferably two cutting units are mounted on a bridge member in order to trim and bevel both longitudinal edges of the plate. For such operations one of the bridge trucks is motor driven at cutting speed along its track. For shape cutting and making fairing cuts, a cuttin unit is mounted on a carriage transversely movable along a track secured to the bridge, and the carriage is moved in the transverse direction by a templet-follower mechanism while the bridge is moved longitudinally by a drive motor in one of the trucks. The templetfol-lower mechanism preferably includes a vertically movable cam follower engageable with any one of several templets or patterns mounted in vertical planes parallel to and adjacent the tracks.

Accordingly, the principal objects of the present invention are: to provide an improved cutting mechanism capable of accurately trimming and shaping large plates; to provide such a machine having right stability and rigidity, and which provides smooth and accurate travel of cutting units; to provide such a machine which carries a plurality of cutting units s0 that a variety of cutting operations can be performed and so that several cutting operations can be performed on the same workpiece at the same time: to provide such a machine which can be installed in a production line; to provide such a machine which can be controlled by a single operator; to provide a shape-cutting machine in which a plurality of templets are provided and a templet-follower mechanism can be shifted to engage with any selected one of such templets; to provide a cutting machine in which horizontal shaping cuts can be made according to templets mounted in a vertical plane so that a plurality of templets can be mounted in relatively small space.

Other objects of the invention will appear below; and while details of the embodiments disclosed by way of example are set forth, the invention is not limited to these, since changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a flame planer according to the present invention showing a bridge member with three cutting units mounted thereon, two of which are arranged for making fairing cuts;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the left-hand templet-follower mechanism with forward parts broken away to show the internal construction;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of a section taken along the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view of a section taken on the lin .4-4 of Fig. 2 for showing the lock device:

Fig. 5 is a view of a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 showing the reversing clutch mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a view of a section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 2 showing the templet-follower positioning and locking devices. v 1

Referring now particularly to Fig. 1, the large plate to be shaped and cut to size is illustrated at W. Such plate is preferably supported horizontally by suitable means such as indicated at S. The supporting means may be stationary and the plate W placed thereon by a crane or the support may comprise conveyor roller such as are customarily used for handling large metal plates.

longitudinally along either side of the plate W are tracks or rails R mounted on suitable foundation beams 20. Such beams preferably are of concrete and are joined by a substantial foundation floor 2| so that the beams 20 are rigidly connected. A bridge member B extends transversely across the plate W and is rigidly mounted at each end on trucks '1' arranged to run on the rails R. Supported by the bridge member B are right and left side cutting units C. The bridge member also supports right and left side templet-follower mechanisms F which move the cutting units (1 transversely according to the contour of a selected one of the templets 22.

. The rails are composed of a plurality of lengths held accurately in end-to-end relation. One or both of the rails are tubular in form and have a longitudinal cooling passage 23 therein. There is one plate 28 under each rail joint but additional rail anchors are provided between the joints. By loosening screws 34 on one side and tightening those on the other side, the rail sections can be shifted laterally, and when both bolts are tightened, the rail is tightly secured to the plates 28 in accurate alignment.

r The bridge member B has ends rigidly secured to the upper portions of the trucks T thereby forming a bridge unit which is' movable along the rails R. without any deviation of the bridge member from perpendicular relation to the rails R or any variations in level.

The bridge member is preferably constructed in the form of a stiff box girder 40. Such a girder 40 has means provided along both front and rear edges for mounting track members or track carrying devices thereon. As shown in Fig. 1, track members 42 and 43 are secured respectively along the front and rear edges of the girder 40. Portions of the track member 42 are shown in Parallel to and inside of the rails R and beams V 20. are mounted the sets of templets 22. The

templets 5| in each set are long strips of any suitable material such as metal mounted in vertical planes and have cam surfaces 52 alon their upper edges. have an outline of exactly the same shape as the outline or contour of the edge to be cut in the plate W. The templets 5| are suitably supported upon the bed 2| b mounting blocks 53 to which are secured U-clamps 54 provided with clamping screws 55. The templets are preferably spaced apart by spacer plates 56 interposed between them. A set of templets 22 is provided at each side of the plate W so that both longitudinal edges of the, plate can be shape cut to the desired contour which contour can be the same or different on each side. Any one of the cam surfaces of the templets on either side may be engaged by a cam follower roller 51 of the corresponding templet-follower ,mechanism F.

The left-hand templet-foilower mechanism is 11- lustrated in Figs. 2 to 6, inclusive, and since the right-hand templet-follower mechanism differs only in orientation the left-hand unit only will be described.

The cam-follower roller 51 is rotatably mounted at the lower end ofa vertical post 58 which has a slider portion 59 ofsquare cross-section that is preferably hollow to avoid excessive weight.

The slider portion 59 is vertically movable through a box-like frame Eli and is guided by a lower set of rollers 6| andan upper set of rollers 62. Four such rollers in each set are provided for engaging the four sides of the slider 59. The lower to the bottom of the frame 60. Suitable means is provided for retaining the pin 61 in the engaged or disengaged positions in the form of a spring 1| arranged to urge the pin toward the slide 5! and a tongue I2 on the neck of the head .9 69 which engages the end of an extension 13 of the bracket 10 when the head is pulled out and turned a quarter turn. The tongue 12 enters a slot in the extension 13 when the pin 61 engages the hole 68.

I The axis of the cam-follower roller 51 is parallel to the transverse diagonal of the slide 59 and the slide 59 is maintained so that its trans-v verse diagonal is parallel with the side of the girder 40 and the track 42. Along the corners Q of the slide 59 through which its transverse di- Figs. 2 and 6 from which it will be seen that the track members 42 preferably have a hollow rectangular cross section and include mountin plate portions 44 spaced along the rear side which agonalpasses, are secured two toothed racks 14. The racks-.14 may be secured inany suitable manner and as illustrated herein, they are fastened to the ends of pins I5 which pass diagol onally through the hollow slide 59. The laterally projecting teeth of the racks 14 mesh with pinions Ii which are mounted upon horizontal shafts I1 extending in the fore-and-aft direction on either side of the slide 59. The shafts 11 are ro- 70 tatably mounted in suitable bearings 18 supported by and extending inwardly from the side walls 19 of the frame 6|]. The Pinions 16 are preferably keyed or pinned to the shafts 11. Thus when the slide 59 is moved up and down both pinions I5 and the Shafts 1'! are rotated but the The cam surfaces preferably pinions and shafts on opposite sides will rotate in opposite directions. Other-pinions 80 having the same number of teeth as the pinions 18 are freely rotatably mounted on the shafts 11 and are spaced from the pinions 15. Between each pinion 80 and the corresponding pinion 18 there is slidably mounted on the shaft 11 a clutch 8|. The clutches 8| are keyed to the shaft 11 by splines 82 so that they are rotatable by the shafts 11 and axially slidable. The clutches 8| and the pinions 80 have corresponding intermcshing teeth 83 which are engageable by sliding the clutches 8| toward the pinions 80 so that when the teeth 83 are in engagement the pinions 80 are locked to the shafts 11 for rotation. Means for shifting the clutches are preferably provided in the form of forked bellcrank levers 84 and 84' which are fulcrummed at 85 to brackets 88 secured to the side walls 18. The forked portion of the levers 84 have clutch dogs 81 that engage grooves 88 in the clutches 8|. The forwardly extending arms 88 and 80 are pivotally connected to thelevers 84 and 84' by a link 8| so ar ranged that when the levers 84 are shifted to the right as shown in the drawing by a. handle 82 secured to the arm 80, the left-hand clutch 8| will be engaged with its pinion 80 and the righthand clutch 8| will be disengaged. When the handle 82 is shifted to the left, then the righthand clutch 8| is engaged and the left-hand clutch is disengaged. The portion of the slide 58 which extends through the top wall 88 of the frame may be covered by a suitable guard or housing 83.

The vertical motion of the slide 58 is translated into horizontal motion of a horizontal slide 85 that passes through the side walls 18 near the upper end of the frame 80. The slide 85 is of similar construction to the slide 58 and may be supported for free longitudinal movement in a similar manner by a set of rollers 88 on bearings 81 secured to the left side wall 18 and a set of rollers 88 in bearings 88 secured to the right side wall 18. The horizontal slide 85 is disposed with its transverse diagonal vertical and has secured along its lower corner a rack I which may be similarly mounted at the lower ends of vertical pins I0| that pass vertically through the horizontal slide 85. The rack I00 is positioned to engage with both pinions 80 so that the rotation of either pinion will move the slide 85 longitudinally. Thus, when the handle 82 is in the position shown in Fig. so that the left clutch 8| is engaged, movement of the vertical slide 58 downwardly will rotate the left pinion 18 and shaft 11 clockwise and cause pinion 80 to move the horizontal slide 85 to the right. Also upward movement of the vertical slide 58 will cause the slide 85 to move to the left. When the lever 82 is shifted to the left the right-hand clutch 8| is engaged and downward movement of the vertical slide 58 will cause leftward movement of the horizontal slide 85 while upward movement of the vertical slide 58 will cause rightward movement of the horizontal slide 85.

The above-described movement reversing mechanism is provided so that two kinds of shape cuts can be made according to a single templet. Thus, when the lever 82 is in the lefthand position, the horizontal slide 85 is moved in such manner that cuts are made having a contour directly according to the cam surface of the templet being used. When the lever 82 is in the right-hand position as shown, the slide 85 is moved in such a manner that cuts which are the inverse or mirror image of the contour of the cam surface of the templet are made. Thus, a single templet can make cuts on two plates which can subsequently be interfitted with each other. This in many instances reduces the number of templets required by one-half.

The portion of the horizontal slide 85 which projects to the left is preferably covered by a guard or housing I02. The end of the horizontal slide 85 which projects to the right is pivotally secured to a bar I03 which is. connected to the carriage of a cutting unit C. Means for positioning the frame 80 along the track 42 is preferably provided. Secured to the frame 80 as found in Fig. 6, is a V-grooved member I04 arranged to slide along the upper ways 41 of the track 42. A slide bar I05 is also secured to the frame 80 in a position to engage the sliding surface 48 adjacent the lower part of the track member 42. For shifting frame laterally along the track member 42 there is provided a pinion I08 engaging with the teeth of the rack and mounted on a vertical shaft I01 secured in bearings I08 supported by the left side wall 18 of the frame 80. The vertical shaft also carries a worm gear I08 which meshes with a worm IIO mounted on the inner end of a horizontal forwardly extending shaft III. The shaft III passes through the front wall II2 of the frame 80 and carries a balanced crank II3. Thus, when the crank is rotated the worm drives the worm wheel which turns the pinion and advances the frame 80 along the track 42. To hold the cam-follower mechanism in position a track lock H4 is provided. The lock I I4 is in the form of a wedge block that engages between the beveled way 48 of the track 42 and a horizontal surface II5 of the frame 80. The lock 4 has a threaded hole II8 engaging the threads of a forwardly extending screw H1. The forward end of screw II1 which extends through the front wall 2 has a handle II8 secured thereto so that when the handle is turned to the right the wedge lock H4 is drawn forwardly to lock the frame to the truck 42. The handle H8 is unscrewed to release the frame 80.

The carriage C is shifted along the track 42 by the bar I03 which extends from the camfollower mechanism F and passes through a bracket I33 secured to the top of the carriage C. The bar I03 may be locked to the bracket I33 by a screw I34 in threaded engagement with the bracket I33 and arranged so that its end presses into the bar I03.

For supporting the cutting blowpipe mechanism, there is preferably secured to the front of carriage C, a forwardly extending slideway 248 along which aslider I48 is movable. The slider I48 is positionable along the slideway 248 by a crank handle 250 which turns a screw threadedly engageable with the slider in the usual manner. The slider I48 carries a torch-supporting mechanism of any desired type which however is preferably a plate-riding device 252 of the type disclosed and claimed in the U. S. Patent No. 2,373,- 541 issued April 10, 1945, to R. Chelborg and H. Pufahl. Such plate-riding device carries a cluster of cutting blowpipe nozzles at an accurate elevation from the surface of the plate being cut, the nozzles also held in such relation to each other that the desired trimming and beveling operations may be simultaneously carried out during movement of the plate-rider device on the surface of the work. The nozzle cluster may be similar to that disclosed in the aforementioned U. S. application.

' ary manner.

. i1, and as previously explain Gases such as fuel gas, heating oxygen, and

cutting oxygen are supplied to the blowpipe nozzles byflexible hose connections 254 which in turn are coupled to control valves in the custom- Such control valves, devices for operating the control valves, and controllers for the truck drive motor and the cutting unit drive motors, are preferably located close together within reach of a single operator, for example at the left-hand end of the bridge member B. Thus, certain controls 255 are mounted at the left end of the girder 40 on its front'face and electrical push-button controls may be mounted in a, box 256 at the end of a conduit I51.

When fairing cuts are to be made or when the longitudinal edges of the plate are to be shape cut to provide'a contour thereon according to a patter-nor templet, the carriages C are' employed in conjunction with the templet-follower mechanism F. One or more templets I are mounted in a. group 22 between the track R and'the plate W. The, cam surfaces of the templets are uppermost.

' The templet-follower mechanism F is positioned by a crank 3 until the cam-follower roller 51, is in position to' engage with the cam surface of the templet 5| having the desired contour. The-frame of the templet-fo1lower mechanism F is then looked to the track 42 by tightening the screw 8. The lever 92 is shifted to the left in order that the left clutch 8| may be engaged and the right clutch disengaged. The bridge member B and the carriage C are now shifted to position the nozzles at the starting end of the plate. The

nozzles will be at the desired distance inward from the corner of the plate, the bridge member B of course having been moved to the correct position, relatively to the templet, and the slider Ill ad; justed so that the position of the nozzle at the starting point on the plate corresponds'corre'ctly with the starting point on the templet. The'screw I34 is now tightened in order to lock the bar I03 to the bracket I33'so that the carriageC must move laterally in accordance with the movement of the horizontal slide 55. The clutch lever- I is preferably maintained in the clutch disengaging position in order thatthe ca'rriage'C may ac: curately respond to the movements imparted by the templet-follower mechanism. When ignition of the plate has been obtained and the cutting oxygen applied, the motor in the truck T is en-j ergized to move the bridge member longitudinally. As the bridge member -moves, increasing elevations of the templet "will raise the cam follower} ed," will move the; bar I03 inwardly of the plate so that the outline of the cut may be like that of the templet.

' If a out having adiil'erent outline is to be made upon the next plate, it is merely necessary to release the lock screw 8 and -*turn the crank 3 to position the cam-follower roller 51 OVGlj an adjacent templet 5! having the desired con--l tour. If another plate is to be shape cut to pro- 3 vide a contour which is the inverse of that of? the templet, the shift lever 92 is'moved to the right-hand position and then increasing elevations of the templet will cause outward movement of the carriage C while the bridge member B travels longitudinally in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig.1."

While there have been describedwhat are at present considered to be preferred embodiments of this invention, it will nowbe obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein ing from the invention,

without departand it: is therefore intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: v I I 1. In a blowpipe machine having a horizontally longitudinally movable carriage and a carrying unit supported on'said longitudinally movable carriage for transverse movement; a templet-follower mechanism having a horizontally movable element connectable to said blcw pipe carrying unit for transversely moving the same, and vertically movable templet-follower means operatively connected to said horizontally movable element to move said horizontally movable element and said blowpipe carrying unit proportionately to vertical movements of said follower means, said follower means being adapted to engage with andbe moved by a templet cam surface which deviates vertically.

2. A blowpipe machine according to claim 1 in which said templet-follower means is transversely adjustable for positioning it to engage and cooperatewlth any one of a plurality of adjacent vertically deviating different contours.

3. A blowpipe machine according to claim 1 hich includes a transverse track membersupported by saidfllongitudinally movable carriage, both said blowpipe'carrying unit and said templet-follower mechanism being movably mounted being substantially freely movable by said horizontally movable element'and said templet-follower mechanism being transversely shiftable along the track to desired adjusted positions thereon. v 4. In a shape-cuttingmachine which has a longitudinally movable carriage of they bridge typeand a blowpipe carrying unit supported by said carriage for' transve plet-follower mechanism adjustably supported by saidlongitudinally movable carriage. and' transversely positionable thereon, said follower mechanism having a horizontally reciprocable 5 member connectable to said blowpipe carrying unit for transversely moving the same, a vertically movable cam follower, and motion transmitting means connecting the cam follower to said horizontally reciprocablememb'er for moving the latter in accordance with movements of said cam follower; said templet-follower mechanism being 7 positionable for engaging said cam follower with any one ofa plurality of vertically deviating templet cam surfaces having differing contours and positioned in planes parallel to the direction of travel of said longitudinally movable carriage.

5. A shape-cutting machine according to claim 4 in which said motion transmitting means is reversible whereby in one adjustment thereof the du'reciprocable member moves rightward withupward movement of said cam follower and leftwardwith downward movement of said cam vfollower and'in another adjustment, saidreciprocable member [moves leftward with upward movement of said cam follower andrightward with downward movement of said cam follower,

6. A shape-cutting machine according to claim 4, in which said motion transmitting means comprisesright and left rotatably mounted horizontel shafts which are simultaneously rotated in opposite directions by vertical movements of said cam follower; an axially shiftable clutch'mem her on each shaft and rotatable therewith; an independently rotatable pinion associated with each shaft and positioned to be engaged by the blowpipe templet cam surfaces having on said track member, said blowpipe carrying unit rsemovement; a temclutch member on the respective shaft when the clutch member is shifted toward the respective pinion, a toothed rack on said horizontally reciprocable member in driving engagement with both said pinions; and a common clutch shifter connected to said clutch members for shiftin them oppositely so that in one limit position of the shifter one of said clutch members is engaged with the corresponding pinion and the other clutch member is disengaged to permit free ro-. tation of the other pinion and in another limit position of the shifter said other clutch member is engaged with said other pinion and said firstmentioned clutch member is disengaged.

JAMES H. BUCKNAM. JOHN H. ROUNTREE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS I Number Number 

